SA trip November 2007

CAPE TOWN BABY!.....

So we headed back to sunny ol SA, only it wasn't so sunny - stoopid global warming giving Ireland its dryest November in yonks and Cape Town a wet one.

But we still got warmer weather than where we were coming from so we can't really complain... we headed to the beach at least three or four times and even though we were wind-blasted a few of them, I managed to brown my well-built physique to a degree.

We arrived at about midnight on Friday the 16th and had a wedding (of our dear friend Hester who Cath stayed with when in digs at Stellenbosch) out in Franschoek the next day.

Damn! My wife and her friends are good looking!

Well I wasn't really drinking at the reception,
so don't ask me what my hand was doing here.
I can only say that maybe I thought rubbing
the bride's belly would give me good luck.

This photie was taken at Constantia Nek, which is about a kilometre from Cath's house. The view was good so we thought, hey, why not...

No trip back to Cape Town would be complete without the trip down to Llandudno. The water here is colder than in Ireland (well certainly the east coast anyway - we haven't swum in the west yet). But Cath and I had a dip after taking 20 minutes to get our feet to stop stinging and screaming at us.

And then the gang arrived and it was time to pop open the bottle of win, beers, chips, etc - and to whip out the rugby ball, which us WORLD CHAMPIONS generally don't go anywhere without!

This last photie I took of some random geezer as the sun was setting. I'm so talented.

Without further ado, I'd like to introduce you to my wonderdog, Jonty. She's a bit older and chubbier now - like so many of us - but we still thought the angel costume would suit her. Actually, people that do this to their pets should be shot, but seeing as Jonty was too fat to properly fit into the costume (I had to cut the entire front open with a pair of scissors) ... we theoretically didn't actually put her into it.

And while we're on introductions... This is little Louis... my sister's 8 month old child. We bought him a Santa suit which 'suited' him perfectly. Janet and Louis Snr supplied the hat. This photie should be in their Christmas cards...

But all that suit wearing was obviously hard work for the little tyke, so he relaxed as all hard-working men do... by taking a drink... We thought the facial expression indicated that he'd already had a few of these, but this was his first. Obviosly a poor alcohol tollerance. Loser.

Apart from the wedding, the other main reason we chose to head to SA in November and not for Christmas was the fact that Cath's sister Emma, was turning 18. Emma's coming over to Ireland for 10 days soon and because she recently got her driver's licence - Irish and English people - beware!!!

Anyhoo, here's proof that Cath and Emma can have their cake and eat it too. Well, one of them can anyway.

And this is her diamond geezer, Delano, at one of our many, many trips to the Spur.

Speaking of Spur, we went again not long after with our 'church buddies':

And then again a few days later (although at least this time, we went to a different Spur):

Now Cath will no-doubt beat the living poo out of me for including this photo, but I nearly wet myself when I saw her like this...

We both went to the dentist while we were home as it is way too expensive to get work done on your teeth in Ireland. Cath needed a filling or three so she got a couple of injections, which deadened half her face. When I arrived later to pay, she smiled sweetly at me and I didn't know whether to laugh or cry... instead I took a photo. Here she is... in stereo.

We also wanted to catch up with our Stellies friends and so we headed out to JC le Roux wine estate for a brunch. It was pretty cool catching up with the old faces and checking out the stunning scenery...

From there, we dashed straight back to Cape Town where the church was having Mass in the forest, followed by a braai and a big get-together. Mom, ever the proud granny, had as usual, kidnapped little Louis and wasn't letting any of us near him.

I can't remember exactly when it was, but Cath also headed to Marianne's hen-party. Now hen-parties aren't the big expence they are in Ireland and often involve relatively little alcohol. But some things are the same.... namely the dress-me-up part. Mari was kitted out, taken out onto a nearby road and told she couldn't return until she got five 'hoots' from passing cars. She got them pretty quickly I hear.

Cath's parents' garden is looking better than ever, what with her dad spending so much time there lopping down trees and digging things up that we thought we'd better take some photies out there before the place changes even more radically. So these are of Cath in her garden:

And Cath's fam have got a new(ish) puppy - Roxy - who enjoys sharpening her teeth on unsuspecting suspects just as a cute photo is about to be taken...

And lastly, before you can all get back to work, we headed to the beach and Kalk Bay harbour where I took these little gems. Damn it we live in a bloody beautiful city / country! The first was, once again, of some random oke - but I thought it made for a good photie.

So long Cape Town... see you in 2009.